The Salahis' Publicist Can't Write

White House party crashers should have given their publicist a grammar test

Mahogany Jones, publicist for the infamous party crashing Tareq and Michaele Salahi, put out a statement this morning regarding her clients -- specifically, regarding reports that they are demanding upward of $500,000 for media interviews.

The Salahis may or may not be guilty of crimes for choosing to crash a White House state dinner. But they are definitely guilty of hiring an incompetent publicist. Or at least one who can't write.

First sentence: "The Salahis are not "shopping" any interviews or demanding money from any media networks to tell their story." OK, so far, so good.

Second sentence: "We repute these false allegations and demand that this adverse, in accurate information cease immediately." Where to begin? It's "refute," not "repute" (though her clients' repute is certainly at stake). "Inaccurate" is rendered as such, not with a space in the middle. And how does information "cease" exactly?

And the rest: "At this time, The Salahis are not making any formal comments and are not making any arrangements to speak with press/media. The Salahis are not appearing on Larry King tonight as they are not talking to any media forms at this time." That capital-T in "The Salahis" is a bit much, but OK -- it's a little like capitalizing "God," right? And "media forms"? What the hell are those? "Media forums," you mean? Still more than a touch overwrought.

But then again, isn't this whole thing?

The Salahis’ Publicist Can’t Write was originally published on City Desk on Nov. 30, 2009, at 1:50 p.m.

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